Machine for guiding flexible sheet materials beyond stationary elements



sT. J. M. HALL 2,551,598 GUIDING FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIALS OND STATIONARY ELEMENTS Filed Ap MACHINE FOR BEY ril l2, 1950 inven im" Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR GUIDING FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIALS BEYOND STATIONARY ELE- MENTS St. John M. Hall, Wenham, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N..J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1950, Serial No. 155,463

4 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for treating flexible sheet material, and more particularly, to a machine for guiding or conveying soft materials, such as suede leather, as such materials are operated upon by the work treating instrumentalities oi' the machine. The invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a pneumatic machine of the same general type as that disclosed in a copending application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 84.368, led March 30, 1949, and now issued as Patent No. 2,515,223, in the name of John G. Hollick. Such machines are particularly adapted for removing dust from leather by means of a blast of air but it will be understood that the present invention is subject to a much wider field of use and particularly in the tanning industry.

In passing suede leather or other flexible and soft sheet materials through machines for treatment, it is frequently essential to convey the work over or beneath a stationary or rigid member such as a table edge or lip in order to avoid any danger of the work piling up against the edge or lip. Piling up of the work piece against an edge or lip frequently results in undesirable creasing and folding and if continued may cause the work piece Vto become jammed or caught in the machine and damaged. It will be readily seen therefore that a smooth uninterrupted feeding of the work to suit the requirements of any particular machine concerned is much to be desired.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine in which exible sheet material may be guided in spread-out condition and in a path contiguous to a rigid or stationary member or lip without interference by the member or lip in the work feeding operation.

To the above ends, at least two movable work guiding members are utilized and in the present embodiment of the invention one of these members is a ilexible conveyor belt which is mounted in cooperation with a second member in the form of a conveyor belt or a roll to guide a spread-out Work piece confined between them. At least one of these members is provided with multiple filaments or a pile which act to guide the work piece up to any rigid member or lip, the iilam'ents or pile being then deflected by the leading edge of whatever form of lip or rigid member is to be traversed by the work being fed, the iilaments being in endwise contact with the work prior to being deilected so as to insure passage of the work piece past the lip or rigid member.

The invention will now be more particularly described by reference to the accompanying drawing and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

The drawing is a sectional view of a dust removal machine with portions of the main operative parts being shown and in which machine the present invention is embodied.

The illustrated machine, as disclosed in the United States application Serial No. 84,368 already referred to, is provided with an air blast nozzle i8 having a narrow discharge slot I2 for directing air downwardh7 against the upper surface of a leather Work piece I4 as the latter is conveyed through the machine. The nozzle l 0 is also provided with discharge ducts I6 and I8 which are adapted to carry or exhaust air and disp1aced dust from the machine to a suction system. A second nozzle 20 (only a small portion is shown in the drawing) is provided which is similar to the nozzle I0 but is upwardly directed to project air against the under side of the work piece I4 as the latter passes over the nozzle 2B. At the entrance end of the machine a roller 22 is mounted above and parallel, as well as transversely, to the path of feed of the work piece Ill. The roll 22 is covered with a plush surface fabric 24--i. e., with a material having a high pile or with filaments which are such as to contact and guide the work piece i4 and to be deflected by the leading edge 26 and the upper side of a lip 2l on the nozzle I0. The roll 22 may be power driven in the direction as shown by the arrow but it may also be mounted for rotation merely by frictional contact of the pile or filaments with the work I4.

An endless conveyor belt 3Q is arranged to support the work piece I4 as it passes beneath the nozzle Il) and a roller 32 is mounted near the nozzle 20 for supporting the rearmost portion of the belt 30. The conveyor belt 3l! is of such a nature as to have a rather high pile 34 to present a plush-like appearance as in the case of the fabric 24. The roller 32 is placed in proximity to the leading edge 36 on the lip of the nozzle 2U so that the pile 34 is deflected by the leading edge 36 and the lower side of the lip.

A third roller 40 is mounted immediately to the rear of the nozzle I0 and serves as a means for driving an endless belt 42 in the direction as shown by the arrows. The belts 38 and l2 are arranged to guide the work piece I4 as the latter is confined between them and directed or guided to the nozzle 2U. The belt 42 cooperates with the upper surface of the nozzle 20 in continued guidance of the work piece I4.

In prior machines of the nature referred to, soft exible material such as suede would be caught either in front of the lip 2l or the similar lip on the nozzle 20. In the use of the present invention the upstanding filaments on the roller 22 hold the leather III down on the belt 38 thereby insuring that the leather is safely and smoothly fed under the nozzle I0. The leather cannot be forced up between the lip 2l and the roll 22 because of the preventive action of the pile or lilaments on the roll 22.

As the work piece I4 proceeds in its path through the machine the leading edge of the work piece has no opportunity to be projected between the nozzle 20 and the roll 32 for the filaments or pile on the belt 30 prevent such passage and the work piece is constrained to pass over the nozzle 20 under guidance of the lower run of the belt 42.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for treating exible sheet material such as suede leather including a stationary lip with a leading edge, a rst work guiding member mounted for operation in a path leading transverse and contiguous to one side of said lip, a second work guiding member mounted for operation in a path leading transverse and contiguous to the other side of said lip, said guiding members being arranged to cooperate and guide workk introduced between them toward said leading edge, and one of said guiding members having filaments positioned for deecton and contact by the leading edge to direct work to one 'side of said lip.

2. A machine for treating flexible sheet material including a rigid lip, two work guiding members mounted in cooperative relation to guide a work piece introduced between them toward said lip, one of said members having laments for contacting said work piece and positioned for deflection by said lip, and the other of said members being arranged to guide the Work piece beyond the lip.

3. A machine for treating eXible sheet material including two work guiding members arranged to guide a work piece confined between them, one of said guiding members having multiple laments arranged for endwise contact with said work piece, and a rigid lip positioned to deeot said laments and to cooperate with the other of said guiding members to determine the subsequent path of said work piece.

4. A machine for treating leather including two movable work guiding members arranged to guide a work piece confined between them, one of said members having a pile for contact with the work piece, and a lip positioned to deflect the pile and cooperate with the other of said members in continued guidance of said work piece.

ST. JOHN M. HALL.

No references cited. 

